Zusatztext The editors are to be commended for ensuring that the essays are, by and large, brief and accessible, ensuring that the book will be digestible for researchers, students, and nonscholarly readers alike. Oxford's decision to release a reasonably-priced paperback copy of this book simultaneously with the hardcover is also appreciated. This alone is enough to ensure that this book will eclipse other scholarly introductions to the sociocultural dimensions of Buddhist meditation that are currently being sold at prohibitively expensive prices. Given these advantages of breadth, accessibility, and price, I am of the opinion that this book would be put to particularly good use in the classroom. Informationen zum Autor David McMahan is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall College. Erik Braun is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. Klappentext This volume explores the interrelations between Buddhist traditions and the scientific study of meditation. Essays consider the nature of modern meditation, its secularization, the values and goods implicit in practice, and the sorts of subjects that take shape under the influence of meditation framed within scientific discourse. Zusammenfassung This volume explores the interrelations between Buddhist traditions and the scientific study of meditation. Essays consider the nature of modern meditation, its secularization, the values and goods implicit in practice, and the sorts of subjects that take shape under the influence of meditation framed within scientific discourse. Inhaltsverzeichnis Table of Contents 1. Introduction: From Colonialism to Brainscans: Modern Transformations of Buddhist Meditation David L. McMahan and Erik Braun 2. How Meditation Works: Theorizing the Role of Cultural Context in Buddhist Contemplative Practices David L. McMahan 3. Looping Effects and the Cognitive Science of Mindfulness Meditation Evan Thompson 4. Buddhism, Happiness, and the Science of Meditation William Edelglass 5. Reflections on Indian Buddhist Thought and the Scientific Study of Meditation, Or: Why Scientists Should Talk More with Their Monks William S. Waldron 6. "Mind the Gap:" Appearance and Reality in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Joanna Cook 7. "Wherever You Go, There You . . . Aren't?" Non-self, Spirits, and the Concept of the Person in Thai Buddhist Mindfulness Julia Cassaniti 8. "Mindfulness Makes You a Way Better Lover": Mindful Sex and the Adaption of Buddhism to New Cultural Desires Jeff Wilson 9. Mindful but not Religious: Meditation and Enchantment in the Work of Jon Kabat-Zinn Erik Braun 10. Is Mindfulness Buddhist? (And Why It Matters) Robert H. Sharf ...

Autorentext
David McMahan is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall College. Erik Braun is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.

Klappentext

The scientific study of Buddhist forms of meditation has surged in recent years, capturing the popular imagination and reshaping conceptions of what meditation is and what it can do. For perhaps the first time in history, meditation has shifted from Buddhist monasteries and practice centers to some of the most prominent and powerful modern institutions in the world, as well as non-institutional settings. As their contexts change, so do the practices-sometimes drastically. New ways of thinking about meditation are emerging as it moves toward more secular settings, ways that profoundly affect millions of lives all over the world. To understand these changes and their effects, the essays in this volume explore the unaddressed complexities in the interrelations between Buddhist history and thought and the scientific study of meditation. The contributors bring philosophical, cultural, historical, and ethnographic perspectives to bear, considering such issues as the philosophical presuppositions behind practice, the secularization of meditation, the values and goods assumed in clinical approaches, and the sorts of subjects that take shape under the influence of these transformed and transformative practices-all the more powerful for being so often formulated with the authority of scientific discourse.

Zusammenfassung
This volume explores the interrelations between Buddhist traditions and the scientific study of meditation. Essays consider the nature of modern meditation, its secularization, the values and goods implicit in practice, and the sorts of subjects that take shape under the influence of meditation framed within scientific discourse.

Inhalt

• Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction: From Colonialism to Brainscans: Modern Transformations of Buddhist Meditation

• David L. McMahan and Erik Braun

• 2. How Meditation Works: Theorizing the Role of Cultural Context in Buddhist Contemplative Practices

• David L. McMahan

• 3. Looping Effects and the Cognitive Science of Mindfulness Meditation

• Evan Thompson

• 4. Buddhism, Happiness, and the Science of Meditation

• William Edelglass

• 5. Reflections on Indian Buddhist Thought and the Scientific Study of Meditation, Or: Why Scientists Should Talk More with Their Monks

• William S. Waldron

• 6. "Mind the Gap:" Appearance and Reality in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

• Joanna Cook

• 7. "Wherever You Go, There You . . . Aren't?" Non-self, Spirits, and the Concept of the Person in Thai Buddhist Mindfulness

• Julia Cassaniti

• 8. "Mindfulness Makes You a Way Better Lover": Mindful Sex and the Adaption of Buddhism to New Cultural Desires

• Jeff Wilson

• 9. Mindful but not Religious: Meditation and Enchantment in the Work of Jon Kabat-Zinn

• Erik Braun

• 10. Is Mindfulness Buddhist? (And Why It Matters)

• Robert H. Sharf